According to a new report from Open The Books, President Trump’s White House is running leaner than any White House payroll in the last 16 years.
In 2025, the White House payroll came in at $44.1 million for 404 employees — the lowest inflation-adjusted total since at least 2009, according to watchdog group Open The Books. It marks a sharp 29% drop from the Biden administration’s $62.2 million tab for 565 staffers the year before.
But the real story is who’s not drawing a paycheck.
Marco Rubio, in his role as National Security Advisor, works for free. So does tech investor David Sacks, the new czar of AI and crypto. Real estate magnate Steve Witkoff handles peace missions without pay. And Paula White, the president’s spiritual consigliere, draws no salary as senior advisor to the Faith Office.
Part of the savings stems from a leaner legal team. Trump’s White House employs 27 lawyers at a cost of $3.8 million. Biden’s legal shop had 45 attorneys costing $6.3 million — a $2.5 million difference.
Since 1995, federal law has required the White House to report its payroll to Congress. This year’s report reads less like a budget and more like a statement of intent.
Trump’s White House spent a total of $198.6 million on payroll during the four years of his first term, or an average of $49.7 million per year. The smallest annual figure was the $46.4 million he spent in 2018. When he left office in 2020, his White House was spending $50.5 million on payroll.
The new dollar total is also a 29% reduction from the White House payroll in 2024, when Joe Biden spent $62.2 million. The White House employed 565 people that year, the most since Richard Nixon was president. In total, White House payroll cost taxpayers $230.1 million during the four years Biden was in office, or an average of $57.5 million per year.
President Obama never spent less than $51 million on the White House payroll during his eight years in office.
More over at Open The Books:
🚨 2025 WHITE HOUSE PAYROLL 🚨
Trump slashes White House payroll 29% year over year, leading by example in the push to shrink government.
Get the details at our Substack: https://t.co/fIgykwrqz4@johnhart333 @MatthewTyrmand @DOGE pic.twitter.com/bzNOut9WpR— Open the Books (@open_the_books) July 8, 2025
